We’re Here, We’re Queer and We’re Getting Married, Too!

When my wife and I were in the work-all-night throes of planning this online magazine, we chatted quite a bit about the focus we would give to the fight for marriage equality.

Our original goal was to give LGBT people a wedding magazine all their own—at the level of journalism and photographic excellence the straight world gets with its pretty bridal magazines.

But the added element of following the headlines of marriage equality was simply too important to leave out, despite the fact that it’s not always pretty—and it can be downright depressing when you find out a well-known figure is adamantly against your relationship. But it can also be uplifting and encouraging, like when New York passed the Marriage Equality Bill on June 24, doubling the amount of lesbians and gays allowed to legally wed in this country. Finally, it seems, the wind is changing, that people do care, they do want to land on the right side of history, and like the wonderful words spoken by Senator Grisanti on the Senate Floor: "I cannot deny a person, a human being, a tax payer, a worker, or people of my District and across the State, the State of New York and those people who make it the great State this it is the same rights that I have with my wife." Simply put, it’s about equality.

Now six states currently permit same-sex marriage: New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. Though the passage of the bill in New York doubles the amount of gays and lesbians allowed to legally marry, the fight continues for the remainder of the country to acknowledge and grant us 1,138 rights denied to us.

But let me be clear. Our stance is that just because your state (or country) doesn’t legally recognize your marriage doesn’t make you any less married. Nowhere on United States soil is it illegal to have a wedding, which, as Merriam-Webster defines it: “a marriage ceremony usually with its accompanying festivities.” The laws will come, but love doesn’t wait, and neither should you feel like you have to. Enjoy your wedding whenever you’re ready to commit to your partner. We’re here to help make that happen, inspiring you with new ideas, guiding you toward gay-friendly companies and honeymoon destinations and, if you’d like, hold your hand along the way.

Thanks for your continued readership!